CAIRO – Iyad Madani, the former Minister of Culture and Information, was elected as the new Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Thursday. Three potential contenders for the post withdrew in favor of Madani, who will now replace Turkey's Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, whose term expires in 2014. Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi made the announcement during his closing statement on the final day of the summit. Iyad Madani is the first Saudi to fill this key post. Madani was Minister of Haj until 2005. Then he served as Minister of Culture and Information from 2005 to 2009 and was replaced by Dr. Abdulaziz Khoja. Madani was appointed chairman of the Board of Directors of Knowledge Economic City on 10 March 2012, replacing Sami Mohsen Baroum. He also serves as vice president of King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Foundation for Housing Development. He was the first editor-in-chief of Saudi Gazette. – SG
